How to Get Kids to Bed When Babysitting

Bedtime can be one of the most challenging aspects of parenting, never mind babysitting. Some kids sleep on command, others will fight it like a ferocious Irish warrior.

If you’re looking for a simple “push here and child sleeps” solution, there isn’t one. Every child is different, so there is no “ultimate trick”. However, in this guide, we’ll go over some approaches that really do work great when done correctly.

1. Get Kids to Bed On Time

This is the single most important thing that you can do as a babysitter. Kids need a routine, regardless of how unruly they seem to be.

If a kid goes to bed late, it’ll actually be harder to put him to sleep. That’s because when the brain is overtired, it kicks into overdrive and releases cortisol (known as a stress hormone). This will keep the kids wide awake, but they’ll have a really hard time controlling their bodies and emotions. This isn’t a stage that you want to reach.

It’s also pretty likely that these challenges will extend into the next day as well. Kids thrive with structure, and bedtime is one of the most important elements within that structure.

One thing to keep in mind is that the kids might need a little more time to get to bed since the parents are away. It doesn’t take much to throw kids off, and not having their parents take charge in the bedtime routine could be a cause for anxiety.

In other words, don’t leave bedtime for the last minute. You need to be on the ball and have one eye on the clock.

2. Make a Good Sleep Environment

It’s pretty rare that a kid will just fall asleep without a ton of prep. Making the environment as conducive to sleep as possible will make your job a lot easier.

Light

The sleeping area needs to be dark. Most kids will be uncomfortable when it’s pitch black, so leaving the door cracked open with the hallway light on might be a good solution.

Some sitters bring their own night lights, just in case. They’re super cheap at a thrift or dollar store, and they won’t take up much space in your sitter kit. And, if you find one that’s colorful or pretty, the kids might be totally enthralled with it.

Sounds

Obviously, the bedroom should be a quiet place, but there’s more to it than that. If the kids can hear things going on in the house while they’re supposed to be sleeping, there’s no way that they’ll stay in bed. They want to be where the action is.

In other words, don’t blast the TV, radio, or talk loudly on the phone when the kids are in bed. This is especially important when the door is cracked open. Even if the noises are soft, the kids will want to know what’s going on and sneak out of the room.

Dress and Room Temperature

Getting the kids properly layered up for bed is important, too. How you dress them at night will depend on a lot of factors, including their age.

For babies, a wearable blanket (AKA sleep sack) is generally considered to be safer than a loose blanket that could cover their faces and suffocate them. Babies just don’t have the motor skills required to pull a blanket off if it’s obstructing their breathing.

For children up to about three or four years old, regulating their body temperature at night is a tricky balance. If a toddler is too warm, there’s a much higher chance of night terrors or nightmares. A child that’s too cold will be constantly waking up.

This is especially challenging in this age group because these kids usually will call for help if their blanket falls off instead of just fixing it themselves. Generally speaking, the ideal solution for 2-4-year-olds is to wear layers for pajamas (including socks, if the kid wants them) so that they can keep sleeping if the blanket slips off.

In terms of room temperature, it’s best if it’s a little lower at night. Most consider the sweet spot to be from 68-70 degrees fahrenheit (20 - 21 degrees celsius), although every kid is different.

Pro tip for babies: It’s generally understood that having a fan in the room to circulate air is safer. According to this study, SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) was reduced by 72% by this one thing alone.

3. Offer the Right Snacks and Drinks Before Bed

Do not give kids everything their heart desires before bed. If you do, you could be in for a total disaster. A full stomach before bed can make it nearly impossible for the kids to have a good sleep.

On the other hand, a light and healthy snack is totally fine. Some actually help! You’ll get the best results from foods that combine protein and carbs. They form amino acids that act like tryptophan, which is the thing that makes everyone sleepy after a turkey dinner. There are lots of other foods that aid sleep in other ways.

Here’s a list of great, sleep-friendly light snacks:

Whole-grain cereal with milk (no sugar)

Toast

Peanut butter

Warm milk

Yogurt

Cheese

Bananas

Chicken or turkey

Eggs

Tuna

Just make sure that the kids do an extra good job of brushing their teeth after these snacks.

In reality, going to bed with a totally empty stomach can be even worse than going to bed with a full stomach. As a babysitter, though, you’ll need to be careful with striking this balance. Lots of kids will feign hunger so that they can stay up later. This is especially common when the parents aren’t home.

Having a good supper in the evening will be enough for the large majority of kids. If anything, a light snack will totally take care of the kid’s needs. It’s a good idea to take care of this before bedtime so that it doesn’t throw off the routine.

Carefully avoid anything with caffeine within at least 2 hours of bedtime, such as pop or tea. Most sources recommend that this should be completely cut off at six hours before bedtime!

4. Maintain a Consistent Bedtime Routine

As a babysitter, this is the single most important thing for you to get right. It’s a total make or break when it comes to sleeping success.

Why Consistency is Important

Kids need structure. Bedtime is when it’s absolutely the most critical. They won’t fall asleep with a snap of the fingers, they need to be mentally ready and wound down to be able to fall asleep and stay asleep.

The bedtime routine isn’t something that comes out of thin air; it’s a routine that’s already been established that you need to follow religiously.

How to Do It

The best way for you, as a babysitter, to succeed with the bedtime routine is for you to do it as close to exactly how the parents do it. This means that you’ll need to spend some time going over it with the parents before they leave. Walking tours of the house are a great opportunity for this.

Here are some questions to ask that will allow you to understand the family’s routine and how to keep the kids asleep:

When does the bedtime routine start?

When are screens turned off?

Do you monitor liquids at night? If so, what are the rules?

Should I get the kids to go to the bathroom during the night? When? (common approach for toddlers that are getting out of diapers)

Is there an evening snack? When is it? What do they usually eat?

Please place the following events in order:

Brush teeth

Bath time

Story

Pajamas

Songs

Anything else?

Do you allow the kids to read or play quietly in bed?

Do the kids pray at night? What’s the process?

Do you use night lights or something else? Do they sleep with the door open?

Do they prefer any white noise or music in the room?

Do the children have a particular stuffed animal or blanket?

Is there a particular procedure for dispelling bad thoughts or nightmares?

When should the bedtime routine be completed?

Where it can Fail and How to Succeed Anyway

This all sounds great and wonderful, that you can simply follow a checklist and have the kids to bed like a total pro.

...until the parents tell you that they don’t have a bedtime routine.

Don’t worry! You can still apply the principles of the routine to help you out. It just might be a bit more of a challenge.

Here’s what I would recommend.

Do the bedtime routine listed above by filling in your own best guess information, but make sure that you completely explain to the kids what’s going on. Give them a two-minute warning before the routine starts, and then explain the steps. As you’re completing each step in the routine, remind them of what’s coming next.

Talk to the parents about how long it usually takes them to get to bed. Even if they say that the kids fall asleep right away, try to budget at least half an hour for the routine. If they say it can take a while, then budget an hour or more. For the longest time, my defiant 3-year-old needed a 3-hour routine!

It will take some extra patience, but it’s definitely doable.

5. Learn How to Wind-Down Kids Before Bed

There are a few things that are really important in order to calm the kids down for bedtime. Here are a few practical suggestions:

One of the best things you can do is to keep the atmosphere as relaxing as possible. Soft voices and a super soothing attitude will have a huge effect on the kids.

Another trick you might want to try is to play spa music. I like to pull up YouTube on my phone and search “spa music”. This works especially well if you have Bluetooth speakers that you can connect to. Dim lights and spa music is super effective for the wind-down process.

One thing that’s absolutely critical is to make sure that the bedtime story is calm. For young children and toddlers, exciting adventure stories, while definitely a lot of fun, can be entirely counter-productive.

I like telling happy stories for girls, eg: about beautiful, colorful, sparkly butterflies that live on rainbows and share candy with anyone that walked by. My daughter loves these kids of stories because it gives her something happy to think about and it can totally calm her down so she's ready for bed.

For my boys, I try telling stories about diggers and dump trucks, or simple problem-and solution stories, or other things that are mildly interesting. The point is to keep the excitement at an absolute zero. At this point, the kids need to be ready to drop off to sleep.

6. Address Any Bedtime Fears

This is a special concern when the parents are away. A simple change in bedtime circumstances can make the child’s mind race with uncertainties; they’ve learned to trust that their parents will take care of them. You might be viewed as a bit of a question mark when it comes to your ability to scour the room for monsters and bugs.

One thing that’s really important is to not diminish or dismiss their fears; acknowledge them and give them solutions.

For example, for some younger kids, telling the story of the three little pigs at bedtime might make it difficult for them to relax and go to sleep because all they can think of may be the big bad wolf.

Whatever their fear is, acknowledge it. Try to equip them to be able to deal with it confidently. This might mean giving them a special object or telling another calm, short story about how the problem can go away. This can take a little creativity, but it’s a great way to calm their mind and help them get to sleep.

7. Be Aware How the Day’s Activities Affect Bedtime

If the kids were overstimulated during the day, it can make sleep more of a challenge.

For example, when babies learn to roll over or crawl, they’re known to have a few terrible nights of sleep. This is just because they can’t stop thinking about it; they’re wired and consumed with this newfound ability.

Older children are different, but there’s still a boundary that you don’t want to cross. If they uncover earth-shattering information during the day, it could be hard to stop thinking about. This isn’t referring to interesting information in response to the 5 million standard “why” questions you might get throughout the day. It’s more so the revolutionary new concepts that blow their minds.

For example, telling a very young girl which part of their body a baby comes out of. Leave that to the parents to explain.

Another thing that children require to be able to sleep properly is physical activity. If you spend several hours binge-watching movies with them, they’re going to have a really hard time getting to bed. If the TV is the real babysitter, then you’re in for it.

You don’t want to do any high-energy athletics in the hours before bedtime, but mid-afternoon is the perfect time to get them moving. Play outside, let them run around, have a dance party, go to the park, go swimming… all of these things will make for a great bedtime.

8. Learn How to Put a Baby to Sleep

Putting a 5-month-old baby down for bed is totally different from getting a toddler or older child to sleep.

Here are a few suggestions that are very effective for getting a baby to sleep:

The bedtime routine needs to be significantly shorter. If can consist of:

Snuggle or rock the baby. Ask the parents how the baby likes to be held and swayed before bed. Most will have a preference.

There are also a few bedtime elements that are very age-specific.

0-3 months

While it’s pretty rare that a newborn would be babysat, it does happen. Here’s what to do, beyond the generic list above:

Swaddle the baby if it’s recommended in your area.

Sounds that are loud, steady and annoying to us are actually really soothing to a baby. For example, the sound of a hairdryer or static on a TV. It brings back happy memories of being inside a warm tummy, with the sound of fluids and other body noises rushing by them.

Observe the baby carefully and put it down before it fully falls asleep. Otherwise, the baby will develop a dependency on you to put it asleep. This means that if it wakes up in the night, it will need your help to put it back to sleep.

NEVER let a baby sleep on its tummy. It could suffocate. Instead, always place the baby on its back.

Use a fan to help circulate the air in the room to make it easier for the baby to breath.

NEVER use loose blankets in a crib, which could also suffocate a baby. Either use sleeping bags, extra layers of pajamas or tightly tuck in blankets.

NEVER put a pillow under a baby’s head. It’s generally considered to be safe to use a small pillow for toddlers 1-1/2 years old and above.

3-6 Months

This is more commonly what you’ll run into. At this point, the baby should be a bit more mobile and not require such intense care. Here are some tips:

Don’t intervene too quickly. If you hear some squeaks and squawks, wait a minute or two to see if the baby can work it out itself. Fussing over the baby too quickly could just wake it up when it realizes, “hey, there’s a human here! Let’s play!”

Swaddling isn’t very common with this age group, but “sleeping sacks” are fairly popular. Even still, try to be careful to tuck the blankets around the baby snugly.

Again, try to nail the timing and get the baby in the crib before it falls asleep.

6-12 Months

This is where it can get much easier from a safety standpoint. At this point, the baby is much more mobile. Regular blankets have replaced sleep sacks. Challenges with sleep are more common to be a sign of behavioral issues, failure to maintain a schedule and bedtime routine, or a sign that the baby isn’t sleeping well.

How Much Sleep Do Kids Need?

1-3 years old: They need about 12-14 hours of sleep per day. This includes nap time, which is usually once per day for this age group. Never underestimate the child’s need for a good nap!

3-6 years old: Around 11-12 hours of sleep. Younger children in this bracket still might need a short nap, but generally, this need is gone by age 6.

7-12 years old: 10-12 hours of sleep is usually ideal, although many kids get much less than that. This can result in behavioral issues or underperformance in school.

13-18 years old: 8-10 hours of sleep. For a lot of teens, 8 hours isn’t actually enough. Unfortunately, most teens report that they get only 6-8 hours of sleep per day.

As you can see, a common trend is that nobody is getting enough sleep! This means that getting them to bed on time is really important. It will help them to be more successful, concentrate well, and achieve more during the day.

Tips for a Successful Bedtime

Screen Time

Turn off the TV and any other electronics 2 hours before bedtime. According to one study, light from a screen can reduce the amount of melatonin that the body produces. This is the chemical that makes us sleepy.

Reducing Stress

Cortisol is a stress hormone that really does a wonderful job of keeping kids wide awake. It comes out naturally when kids are overtired (it’s what you get in that “second wind”). Once this happens, it’s 10x harder to put these little critters to sleep.

The best thing you can do is make sure that the bedtime routine happens on time and that it’s followed to a T. This will naturally allow their little bodies to produce the chemicals needed for a great sleep.

Security Object

Almost every kid has a “security object” – a blanket, teddy bear, doll, etc. Make sure that you know exactly which object belongs to each kid, and have it at the ready. Having to search around for it before bedtime can be stressful for the kids.

That “One More Thing”

This is a classic yet devious tactic that nearly every kid maximizes on. It can manifest in “I need a sip of water” or “I’m hungry” or “I’m scared” (with a smirk). Try to ward it off by including all the common things in the bedtime routine.

Focus on Relaxation

Your objective should be on relaxation, not sleep. Sleep will happen naturally when the kids feel totally relaxed. If you’re constantly telling them to close their eyes and go to sleep, they might find it frustrating or stressful. They might feel pressured to do something that they’re not ready for.

Instead, just focus on making them as relaxed as possible.

Here’s something that I tried with my own kids: We called it the “calm thought”.

I’d ask them to close their eyes so we can play imagination. Then I’d tell them a little story. Something like this:

“Imagine we’re in a beautiful forest. There are butterflies all around. We have a picnic with (insert favorite food here). There are rainbows in the sky that are sprinkling glitter all over the earth. There’s a gentle breeze flowing through the forest. (swish hand gently above their faces) Can you feel the breeze? Now the sun comes out and we can feel the warmth on our skin. Do you feel the sun on your cheeks? It’s making us so sleepy… let’s relax in the sun and have sweet dreams about (insert things that the kids like here)”

Every child is different, so you might need to customize it a bit, but it really can work like a charm.

Just remember the main point: Focus on relaxation, do the routine so that they’re mentally prepared, and sleep will come.

If you're babysitting particularly 'stubborn' children, read our essential guide: How to babysit difficult children to learn additional strategies to disarm tantrums and to encourage kids to do the right thing.